Creating a portfolio is a way to sell yourself and your talents. A friend and I were talking last night about portfolios and I shared that I am constantly updating mine. It is important that we continually keep our portfolios up to date. In today’s generation, it is crucial to have both a traditional and an online version of our portfolios.
For the past few years I have used www.livebinders.com as my online portfolio. It worked well and I was pleased. It is free and user friendly.
There are many ways to create an online portfolio and many websites that will assist you in creating one. I have used different websites for many things. For instance, I use Blogger to host my educational blog, and am starting to use www.wordpress.com as a professional website. All are free or have upgrades available depending on your needs.
The key is to make a portfolio to represent who you are. Highlight your attributes and share with others prior to even applying for or looking for jobs!
I heard Dan Meyer say recently, (paraphrasing) if all you're doing is consuming, consuming, consuming, and consuming, your brain gets fat. You'll eventually need to work off some of those brain calories by producing content. The portfolio is a great way to do exactly that. Produce content and publish it in a way that allows for comments and discourse. It will only enhance the learning and growth. I love that analogy and it's so true! In addition, if you have any interest in influencing others in your field, you need to capture your growth and store it somewhere. Capturing the impact your learning has on your practice will help build credibility when showing others the way. Don't just be a person that stands up and talks about what to do, show them that you can also walk the walk. Can't do that if you aren't in the mindset of capturing and curating your work.
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